Instead of the promised 3.400, Johnson Electric will have 1.550 employees

Government representatives, as well as companies, promised that the factory would "Johnson Electric" to employ no less than 3.400 workers in Niš, which was also committed to by the Incentive Agreement signed in 2016 by which the state approved 19,2 million. However, this contract was changed several times, the number of promised workers decreased, and the last time it was changed at the end of 2024.

With this, "Johnson Electric" committed itself to having at least 2027 workers by the end of 1.550, but also to return almost one million euros in subsidies, they write Southern news.

Is there a cancellation or not?

And while last week "Johnson Electric" announced that they did not submit proposals for mutual termination of employment contracts for 300 workers, the contract that it signed with the Ministry of Economy in December 2024 shows that this company plans to reduce the number of workers.

As stated in the contract, "Johnson Electric" approached the Ministry in August and October 2024 with "a request to change contractual obligations and maintain the total number of employees in the Guaranteed Investment and Employment Period, due to changed circumstances."

This practically means that this company cannot fulfill its obligations, which in 2016 were the employment of no less than 3.400 workers "permanently", but in the meantime they have also been reduced in 2021 to a minimum of 2.200 employees.

They undertake that during the period of guaranteed investment and employment, from December 31, 2022 to December 31, 2027, they will not reduce the number of employees below 1.550 employees and that they will pay each employee a salary equal to the minimum wage increased by at least 20 percent - the new contract says.

Due to the fact that it could not fulfill its part of the contract, the company is, according to the contract, obliged to return the subsidies paid to it by the state, amounting to 965.766 euros.

New hall, donated land

By the way, "Johnson" signed the contract on the allocation of incentives for the investment project in 2016, and the new hall, which was built on land donated to it by the City of Nis, was opened by the Prime Minister at the time, Aleksandar Vučić.

Assessing that the Niš plant is "Johnson Electric", as he said, "perhaps the best factory that Serbia has", then Prime Minister Vučić called the entire investment "a great miracle".

"From the beginning, I was present in the making of this, now I can say not a small, but a big miracle, which will return Nis and Nislia to their old glory and bring prestige that they did not think was possible to happen again, and show many faithless Toms that it is possible to make great results," said Vučić.

At the time, it was said that in the first five years, this factory will employ at least 2.400 new workers, and after that, it will employ no less than 3.400 employees for an indefinite period from 2021 to 2026.

However, in 2020, the first annex is already being signed, extending the so-called Investment period from the first five years until 2022. Then, in 2021, the second annex will follow. With it, Johnson Electric undertakes to have 2022 employees by the end of 1.220, and 2.220 after the completion of the investment project.

Source: Southern news